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The Christian Index. Vol. 57 —No 36. Table of Contents. First Page-*Alabama Department: The Mis sionary Spirit Rather than Plans the Great Need ot our Times; Is There Not a More Excellent Way ?; Alabama News; The Religious Press. Second Page Correspondence: Trip to Southern Georgia; General Meeting at Mount Carmel; Revival at Antioch; Re vival Scenes and Incidents; The Shorter Baptist College; From the Wild Indians; Bethel Association; The Middle Cherokee Association; How to Get it; A Happy Sur prise; My Mission in Columbus; A Season of Revival, Do Not Forget. Third Page—The Sunday-school; Useful Hints; A Beautiful Thought. Fourth Page—Editorials: Mutual Invasion! The Socond Baptist Church of St. Louis, Mo., Sendeth Christian Salutation; Disin terested, Yet not Disinterested; Georgia Baptist News. Fifth Page—A Visit to the Sea; Secular Edi torials: News Paragraphs;Legislative Sum mary; Racing at Our Stale Fairs; Georgia News. Sixth Page—Obituaries, etc. Seventh Page—Farmers' Index: Gathering Corn; August Crop Report. Eighth Page—Florida Department: Revival and Church News; Receipts of Mission Board. Georgia Baptist Convention. Alabama Department. BY SAMUEL HENDERSON. THE MISSIONAR Y SPIRIT RA TH- ER THAN PLANS THE GREA T NEED OF THE TIMES. When so many heads and hearts are engaged on the problem as to how the vast membership of our denomina tion is to be brought into living, work ing union with our benevolent enter- it not one of the marvels of the times, say some, that no one has as yet solved it? The agency plan has about exhausted itself, albeit, there are some objects which it only can com pass. The “card plan” was tried some years ago, did well for a while, and was abandoned. Other plans have had their day, and have been thrown aside. Now, it strikes us, that we have begun at the wrong end of this subject, that no plan can infuse life into dead material. Give us life—spiritual life —“a mind to work," in our pastors and churches, and plans will come of th«w«e|v.pji WbftP. the hw>rt Jutd head are full of a guren snbject, it is the easiest thing in the world for that sub ject to find expression. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” At the risk of repeating, in substance, what we have heretofore said on this subject, we now say, with all the emphasis we can command, that what is now needed is a revival of the missionary spirit among our ministers and churches. A new generation has grown up since our ante bellum days —that period when this missionary spirit was rife in the denomination, and when we only had to know what was needed, and the amount was forth coming. This new generation, both of preachers and members, need to be educated on this subject. The tribula tions, the losses, the impoverishment of our section in these latter years, have, as we may say, abruptly broken the connection between the present and the past, so that we have well nigh to begin de novo. The great body of the material that now composes the mem bership of our churches, has been brought in since our calamities set in, and the few older members that sur vive these calamities, find themselves so embarrassed in their old age as to Curtail materially their benefactions. We are, therefore, mainly to look to those more recent accessions to our churches for the means to carry on the mission work. They need just that kind and measure of instruction im parted by the pioneers of this grand enterprise fifty years ago—Luther Rice, Jesse Mercer, Basil Manly, Ab ner Clopton and their co-laborers. Do , not think, reader, that we underate the intelligence and piety of our younger members and preachers. In those days, one never attended an Associa tional meeting without hearing an earnest missionary sermon. And then the ordinary ministrations of our pas tors abounded in the spirit. Every pastor felt it to be a kind of necessity laid upon him to keep this great sub ject prominent in his preaching. Our religious newspapers, too, reflected the spirit of those days, and abounded in such missionary intelligence, facts and arguments as were adapted to inspire our people with commendable zeal. But a sad change has supervened. We seldom hear a missionary sermon, properly so called, at any of our gath erings. Perhaps there is not one pas tor in ten, if that, who ever thinks of preaching to his church or churches, on this subject. Our religious newspa pers are woefully deficient in this re spect. It is seldom that an editor sets himself to the task of giving his read ers his best thoughts on this theme “thoughts that breathe and words that burn” —so that if they learn anything in adequate measure about it, they must look elsewhere. An occasional letter from a missionary, if it happens to be SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. of Alabama-.. directed to him, together with a gener al resume of the reports of our Boards annually, are about what we get in our papers. Os course those meagre efforts are attended with like meagre results. The fact is, great actions come of great thoughts. If you want to bring out everything that is in a man, you must put into his head and heart such grand thoughts as will fairly possess him— as will set r.im aglow with that noble enthusiam that will, as one has expressed it, inspire him “to make that trial, so seldom made, what is the ut most effect which may be granted to the last possible efforts of a human agent.” If anything can awaken this zeal, this high purpose of soul, that thing is found in the grand commis sion of our Lord, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” And it is just as impossible for the hearts of Christians to be system atically brought in contact with this divine obligation, and not respond to its demands, as to carry fire in the bosom and not be burned. Let us say in conclusion, that when to all this we add the element of pray er for the success of God’s cause, we have reached the acme of mortal agen cy ; since no Christian can come from habitual and daily contact with Al mightiness—that spirit of ceaseless energy—and not feel “strengthened with all might in the inner man” for every good word and work. We nat urally imbibe the spirit of whatever we voluntarily and constantly cherish. We cannot enter a circle of enterpris ing, industrious men, without catching something of their earnest spirit— much much more may we expect our zeal to be influenced by constant com munion with the Triune God at the mercy-seat, where many Christians may become “strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” For it ie this union of prayer and effort, in com bination with Omnipotence, that gives to the church of Christ oii'earth that sublime aspect accorded to it in the scriptures—“Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” Such in brief are some of the views we have cherished for some years. We I shall recur to the subjecLat proper in- ‘ tciiuis, and at least aim to do our part toward this revival of the missionary spirit, which we regard as pre-eminent ly the want of the times. IS THERE NOT A MORE EXCEL LENT WAY? We seldom attend our great denom inational gatherings without regretting the necessity which forces the custo dians of our benevolent enterprises to resort to certain measures of expediency to raise funds. We mean that they have to lower the motive—the impell ing power—in order to compass the best of purposes. Sometimes the mo tive is taken from what other denomi tions are doing—sometimes from our denominational pride—sometimes from what The brother at our side is doing, etc., etc. For illustration, a brother rises at the instant that a public col lection is to be taken for a worthy ob ject, and proposes to be one of ten to raise a thousand dollars. That propo sition is exhausted, and a similar one follows for a less sum and a larger number, and so the matter goes on un til a handsome amount is raised. We are not objecting to all this, since it is better to “provoke one another to love and to good works,” if we can do no better, than to do nothing. The point of our regret is, that the piety of our churches is not sufficiently elevated to justify appeals of this kind to purer, nobler, higher motives. Robert Hall once remarked, in allusion, we believe, to Dr. Macknight’s “work on the Epis tles,” then recently published, that the learned author “never planted his foot in heaven while he could find a place on earth for it.” He alluded to the want of spirituality in his notes and commentaries. We have often thought of the remark in its application to the occasions to which we refer. We sel dom invoke the higher, so long as we can use the lower, motives, because the lower are more influential. Our Christianity does not move in that ele vated plane which places it so under “the powers of the world to come,” as I to call out the highest results, whether ' of labor or means, to advance the cause ’ of Christ. While, therefore, we would not abate any legitimate method of arousing the benevolent spirit of our people—while we would not cease to "provoke one another” to every good work—we would bring to bear more frequently the higher, the purer, the more animating motives recognized in the word of God as indicating a nobler type of Christian ity. This would, at ieast, accustom our people to resiKind to the claims of Christ from a better class of influences. And why should not the “love of Christ j constrain us?” Why should not a ' “world lying in wickedness” arouse a [ deeper sympathy and incite us to make heavier sacrifices, than the pride of | Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday, September 18, 1879. position ? Why should not the “saving a soul from death” be more potent in inflaming our zeal, than the mere con sideration as to what anybody can do, or will do, for that cause? Why should we not more readily yield to the higher than to the lower powers in matters that relate to the grandest interests ever committed to human agency? When an Apostle would stir the deepest sensibilities of the Christian heart, he does it in these words ad dressed to his Phillipian correspon dents : “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things aje true—honest—just—pure— lovely—of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Was there ever such an array of lofty motives marshalled in a single sentence? It concentrates into a focus all that is true and venera ble in the past, all that is pure and lovely in the present, and all that is animating and glorious in the future, and bids us labor and pray under its combined influence. It does more than this—it fixes our eye upon the grand purpose of grace—the redemption of a world—and asks us to look at all other events however grand, all other agen cies however potent, and all other in terests however absorbing, as subsidiary and contributing to that design. It is as if he would say, ‘all principalities and powers; all persons human and angelic ; all events, forces, influences; all means and activities; things past, things present, things to come; life and death ; and every other creature, gather their only true importance by their connection with the coming and kingdom of Jeans Christ.’ There has never lived a Christian, there is not one now living, there never will live one in the history of time,whose talents, means ■ and influence were not, as one has ex pressed it, “bespoken from eternity.” Each one is expected and required to take his station in that “line of succes sion”—that •current of moral and spir itual power—which has come down to us with the aggregated resources of past generations, and which is to sweep on down to remote ages, gathering in volume and power from every period through which it passes, until heaven j and earth shall join in joyful acclaim, L j “Tbe VjngdTins c|khis world Ea vcJ»>jJ come the kingdoms of the Lord’ and of* his Christ." Now, the sum of what we would say is this, that to a work so noble, so God like as this, we would have our breth ren animated by the purest and best motives that heaven has supplied. The higher and purer the motives that in spire us, the more cheerful and effec tive the work will we do. ALABAMA NEWS. —Mobile has erected 105 buildings since Janvary Ist. —Prof. W. R. Boggs has been elect ed to the chair of chemistry and natu ral history at Howard College. —There were 12 accessions to the Shorterville Baptist church during the late meeting. —Sixty-five persons were poisoned at Searle, Ala., a few days since, by eat ing ice cream that had been prepared in a brass kettle. —W. C. Mclver, trustee, gives notice that on Saturday, the 13th, at the of fice of A. L. Brooks, in Tuskegee, there will be an examination to fill the ap pointment of a free scholarship in the University of Alabama. Any young man in the fifth district who reports on that day shall have a fair hearing. —The Talladega Mountain Home speaks in highly complimentary terms of Judge Heflin’s fitness for a position on the Supreme Court Bench of Ala bama. The probability is,that there will be several candidates for the Supreme Court Judgeship in the field by next August election. —The Eufaula Times and News has been changed to a semi-weekly, and its edition of the 3d instant announces that Clement C. Shorter, Esq., will hereafter be its literary and political editor. Mr. Shorter is a gentleman of ability and intelligence. —We have conversed with farmers from every section of the county, and ! sum up the whole matter as authorizing the opinion that the shedding of the ’ plant caused by the late rains follow ing so close upon a protracted drouth, together with the alarming prevalence of rust’ will reduce the cotton crop in that vicinity by at least one-third and in many localities one-half. The dreaded cotton worm has not thus far made its appearance, and many of our farmers have had only their fears for their pains. It is the opinion of some that a benefit would accrue to the crop if the worms should make their appearance late in the sea son. The crop, however, will suffer se- I verely, in some portions of the county ' from the rust: but less on manured ' lands than on the original soil. Some i farms are entirely free from it.—We | tnmpka Times. The Religious Press. —A merchant, sitting in his office in South street, New York, recently received an answer to his dispatch sent to Shanghai, six hours previously. Thirty thousand miles in six hours is good time, even for the tele graph. The charge to Shanghai is $2.80 per word to Yokohama $3.06; but the code or cipher is so well systematized that a sin gle word serves for a dozen when tran scribed. • —What is believed to be the oldest church in London is “St. Peters-upon-Cornhill.” An interesting service has just been held there. The occasion was the seventeenth centenary of the founding of that church. The Archbishop Canterberry was the preach er. No other church in London, now in use, can lay claim to so remote an origi i. It is said to have been founded in A. D. 179. —ln the year 1556, eleven men and two women were burned in the same (ire at Strat ford. England, because they refused toaceept the doctrines of the Eorc’su faith and prac tice its ; idolatries.'"A monument to these ha# been erected, and the ceremony of uu.jij < >g was performed August 2d, 1879, at ch die Earl of Shaftsbury presided a short address. The brutal cru elty oftlonner in thus destroying innocent life, together with the heroic endurance of the so fferera, had the efleet of opening the eyes <|.f many, and the execution, intended to extinguish the Reformation faith, had precisely the opposite result. And now, af ter tile lapse of more than three centuries, a 1 shalUis erected to perpetuate the memory of thost who so nobly gave up their lives rath er tl an surrender their faith. The monu men is sixty-five feet in he ght, a martyr’s crow n surmounting the spire. The princi pal Incription is : “To the glory of God in his suffering saiats. This monument is erec ted i;o perpetuate the principles of the Refor mattun, and to commemorate the death of eighteen Protestant martyrs, burned in thia neighborhood, for the pure faith of Jesus And if the erection of such a me inotioral could but recall to the Church son ething of the spirit of self sacrifice under wh Ich these people fell, it would give it a I'■ r which it greatly needs for the labor am | fight of the present day. —J. M. P., in an article in the Wes tern Recorder,, on the subject of “Evan gelw.a,’' says: ’ few of all thane considerations, surely ii’il.sriiminate encouragement should not be given to modem evangelists, Ao-called. I E-ibw not ao much about the South as for ; r vJuoLthinlr evangelists in the North below par. Ro doubt there is “tLe assumption of su pciw luBIS a'na txUswva’cs?.” while what they say and do renders the tion” a gratuitous presumption. An evangelist is one thing and a professional revivalist another. If J. M. P. refers to the latter we beg to add to what he has said that we have nev er seen one who did not (in our opin ion) do more harm than good. —What, then, was the apostle’s method of curing schisms, and of making men truly one who had been “divided ?” He directed every eye, and every heart and every spirit to one object—Jesus Christ, the personal Sa viour, the center and source of unity; in fellowship with whom all men would find their fellowship with each other. “We preach Christ crucified.” “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” * * * Professing Christians would do well to weigh the apos tle’s cure of schisms. — Ex. Brethren! if we turn our thoughts mere to the great centre, and less to its mere surroundings and adjuncts we shall have fewer disputes. We have noticed that some who have most to say about matters of detail, have least to say about Christ; they are zealous beyond measure about ordinances and orders and questions of expediency, and perhaps of questions of principle too which are a long way from the centre, while they are comparatively indifferent to the great question of the ages. Their tithing of mint and an nise and cummin, is wonderfully exact, but they neglect the weightier matters. They are careful and trou bled about many things; but owe thing is needful. “Much serving” may do very well, but it is better to press close to Jesus. —lt is not falling into th; water, but lying in the water, that drowns. It is not falling into sin, but but lying in sin, that destroys the soul. If sin and thy heart are two, Christ and thy heart are one. — Ex. Just so; but if a man takes repeated dips and too many of them, and keeps on taking them at very short intervals, he cannot enjoy life; he will ruin his health, and will probably die in con sequence. There is such a thing as drowning by degrees. —The present moment, in the life of any invividual, is in a true sense the culmina ting point of that individual’s [leraonal his tory. If a man has been a great hero, or has performed notable acts, or bus inherited an honorable name, we naturally look for some good quality in his la«t action, what ever it may be. “Nobility obliges,” Hays the Frenuh maxim ; in other words, nobility is a constant pressure. The noble elements in our past form the only part of peisonal history that ought <o influence us now. Ev erybody has in his past something that is honorable or noble. His parents have loved him and he has returned that love; he has spoken kind words ; has helped the needy or suffering; has res'sled evil; has conquered for virtue. If at the present moment he conquers again, he is adding to his good record ;if he falls he is unworthy of it. If the best and brightest acts of a man's life could be suddenly brought before him when THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, of Tennessee. ■ there is evil in his heart and wickedness in his surroundings, his purpose might be ban iehed and his hand stayed. It is easy thus to bring to mind this strengthening memory. In any time of tempiation one ought not to think" whether he has ever done a worse thing, but whether he has ever done a tetter. —S. S. limes. What a good thing it would be if a man should never fall below his own I “best.” His best he is capable of some I of the time; then why not all the time? What an immense improve ment a man would be on himself, if he would only keep himself up to his own highest standard. —And here is some wholesome doc trine from the PrcsbyL ‘‘...'.".'.. 'ißanner : Sanctification is a wo'"”'7« distinction from an act—a process beguii when the soul is bora again, and c .apleittfeenly when the eottVs earthly tabernacle is dissolved. Com uletesanelificati.in, by which we mean per fection in holiness, is never attained pre vious to the hour of death. We ought never in the present life to suppose that we are already perfect; but “forgetting those thing which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before,” we ought to be continually pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. “Sanctification is the work of God s free grace.” The power by which it is carried on is divine. It is possible indeed by care ful culture, by keeping the young from con taminating associationH and bringing them under wholesome influences, to preserve them from much of the evil of the world. 2 at such culture does not and cannot make em holy. It cannot give life. It requires the exercise of divine power to do that. Hence in the Scriptures sanctification is con stantly referred to God as its author. “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly,” wrote Paul to the Tbesalomans. And the same doctrine, if not the same form of words, he repeated in each of his epistles. Yet in -anctificaiion the soul is not passive as in regeneration. It has a part to perform —a work to do which no one else can do for it. Hence the exhortation, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” We must work—work as if entirely depend ent upon ourselves as to whether we are ever to be freed from sin or not; but we must also bear in mind that .without divine help our working will amount to nothing. Let us never forget that it is “God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure.” —Denver is not quite such a center of reckless depravity as Leadville. It is not exactly pandemonium let loosd,butit is one of the most godless places on the continent. It is the Baden Baden (of past times) of the United States. There have been times, I am inarmed on good author.ty, wuen over have met here from different parts of th« .orid, I’enfiand faro are advertised as though their legality wae unquestioned, and if any “descent” is plan ned, as once in every year or so it mny be by the complaint or despairing city authori ties, the telephone utters its quick warning, and all gambling implements disappear like the good and evil spirits before the reading of a certain Poet Laurerte’s lengthy manu script in the “Vision of Judgment.” Min ing regions seem to beget the imperious gambling passion, which swallown up for the time all other passions, and crowds the gilded hills and opium dens with all classes and nationalities; from the bell boys up to Brigadier Generals, from the “heathen Chi nee” up to the English lord. Never was there a city where the salutary influence of good example was more needed, for the spir ituality of so many Christians becomes eaten out by the canker of worldliness and reckless ness, with which the very atmosphere seems charged. There are a few Abdiels and Dan iels whose Christian activities are only made the more intense by the faithlessness and wickedness around them, but the proportion, alas, is very small. We are sorry that such a state of things should exist anywhere, but we cannot help thinking that if all this were in our neighborhood political cap ital would be made of it by religious papers, and the story would be made to do good service in the next Presi dential election. Would it not be bet ter to look on this wicked world with Christ-like eyes, and bend all our efforts to rescuing it from the thraldom of sin? About thirty colored boys made a demon stration at the Lincoln (Illinois) high school, claiming their right to admission. They were denied entrance and ordered away but they threatened to take legal measures to secure the same rights in the high school as white children. The school board asserts they are entitled to admission to common schools but that the Supreme Court has held that town authorities can bar them from the high school. They also claim that outside influence has caused them to make the pres ent demand and that it is not any demand of their own.—Er. So they were “put Up to it!” and our observation is that with the very rarest exceptions, negroes when left to them selves never thrust themselves into places where they arc not wanted. Negroes are human, very human ; and when they find that their presence is disagreeable, they instinctively with draw. White people are human, very human ; and they instinctively prefer to consort with their own kind, just as negroes also do. Politicians are hu man, very human, and very depraved. When they find that they can accom plish their purposes by it they will wheedle the poor negroes into doing mischevious things which are contrary to all the impulses of their nature. Is there to be no end to this trickery ? We see no hope but in the prevalence of the Gosjiel, which will incline men always to do the things that make for , peace. What Is Wanted?—People want in you a Christianity that is Chiiatian across Whole No. 2386 the counters, over the dinner-tables, behind the neighbor’s back as in his face They want in you a Christianity that they can find in the temperance of the meal, in modera tion of dress, in respect for authority, in amiability at home, in veracity and xym plicity in mixed society. Rowland Hill used to say he would give very little for the re ligion of a man whose very dog and cat • were not the better lor it. They want fewer : gossipping, slandering, gluttonous, peevish, conceited, bigoted Christians. To make them effectual, all our public religious meas ures, institutions, benevolent agencies, mis sions, need to be managed on a high-toned scrupulous and unquetion ible sense of honor, without evasion or partisanship, or overmuch of the serpent's cunning. The hand thn{*'/(' r e’away the P?-{e‘musi be urn 1 spotted Irourll 'world. The money that sends the iniasiounrv to the heathen must be honestly earned. —Dim Journal. That’s it exactly ! The germ of re ligion is on the inside and so is the life of a tree; but if there are no leaves and fruits on the outside, it is a good, sign that there is no life anywhere. Rowland Hill was right about the dog and cat. All our public measures ought to be “unquestionable,” which is a good deal more than can be said of some of them. If we cannot increase the membership in our churches without resorting to clap-trap ‘ t , we shall do better without the increase; ’ and if we wish to raise money for religious purposes, let it be done in dignified means and in religious ways, by appeal to projper motives; and if it cannot be raised in this way, it is bet ter not to raise it at all. By the way, it was St. Thomas Aquinas, who first gave an answer wrlnnocent IV., that may be remembered with advantage now. One day he came into the presence of that pontiff, before whom a large sum of was laid out. “You see, said his holiness, “that the Church is no longer in that age in which she said, ‘Silver and gold l.ave I none.’ ’’ “True, Holy Father,” said Aquinas; “neither can she any longer say to the lame, ‘Rise up and walk.’ ” (Acts, iii: 2 8.) — Messenger. Yes, and some of the poorest churches are the richest, and some of the richest are the poorest. Here are two ques tions : 1. In what does the wealth of a church consist? 2. In what does the poverty of a church consist? We give the questions as provocatives to thought and omit the answers. Just here it may be well to put in another question which we have often asked before; Why is. it that our denomina tional strength and efficiency are not ctjiumeusurato vvilb our numerical in , And again: Which are our rich churches, Slid which the poor ones* And still agtlW • foo large in-gatherings always increase our real wealth? Finally: Do large in-gatherings ever in crease our poverty? Written answers to these questions are not desired. What is the gospel?—lt is a declar ation of pardon and of salvation secur ed at once to every one who accepts Jesus Christ. Justice demands the Sal vation of every one who believes in Christ. It is not, however, because of any merit in the act of believing; for there is no merit in believing, which, moreover, is the gift of God. Bu: he ■who ordained, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” has also decreed, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condem nation ; but is passed from death unto life.” Justice stands engaged to fulfill this decree. An act of mercy may in volve justice as much as an act of vengeance. Thus we read, “If we con fess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is gospel. It amounts to this : the reception by a sinner of Jesus Christ, instantly secures for that sinner the presence and progressive work of the Holy Spirit in his heart, and cer tain salvation. The gospel is a gratuitous offer from God to sinners of all which God can bestow. In this offer is included the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul, pro ducing repentance and forgiveness, love, hatred of sin, progressive good ness, perseverance, and final redemp tion. These are offered without equiv alent in return. Those who accept this offer will indeed make returns which will be in proportion to the sense of obligation in having every thing for nothing; but all their returns will not and cannot pay for what they receive, and God did not intend that they should.— Walks to Emmaus, by Dr. Adams. They are lighting up Niagara Falls now at night with the electric light, and the effect is said to be beautiful. Red lenses are frequently used on the lights at the base of the falls, and the effect is to make the water of the great cataract look like blood. The red light per meates the mass of water flowing over the brow of the precipice to a wonder ful degree. It is all one intense red. ■ The electric lights are also used to cre ate another phenomenon of nature, i viz., a lunar rainbow above*the i By arranging the lights in a r manner the spray that ever hovers! bove the falls is so illuminated, that a , rainbow appears with many colors i common to rainbows.